Revealed: landmark Scottish AI project has no prospect of meeting renewables promise - The Guardian

Ah, the great Scottish AI datacentre — a £8.2bn monument to the kind of forward thinking that promises renewable-powered glory by 2030 while conveniently forgetting to actually build the renewables. A Guardian investigation has revealed that the Lanarkshire complex, hailed as a 'landmark' project for green AI, has no prospect of meeting its own pledge to run entirely on on-site clean energy. The Scottish government, in a masterpiece of understatement, privately acknowledged an 'issue' with 'power provision', which is code for 'we haven't the foggiest how to power this thing without plugging into the grid like everyone else.'

Now, one might ask: how does a £8.2bn project with grand climate commitments fail to secure its own power supply? The answer, as ever, lies in the gap between press release and reality. The Guardian's investigation found that the datacentre's plans were 'misrepresented' — a polite way of saying someone sold a dream and hoped the physics would sort itself out. Meanwhile, the government's private admission confirms that this is not a minor delay but a fundamental flaw in the project's entire premise. Who needs on-site renewables when you have off-site excuses?

But never fear: the AI industry will continue to guzzle energy at an alarming rate, and this datacentre will likely still be built, just hooked to the national grid and powered by gas. The 'landmark' project becomes yet another example of tech's ability to promise moon and deliver a damp squib. At least the Scottish weather is good for something — it provides ample clouds to block the sun for all those hypothetical solar panels that were never installed.